Ottawa economy loses 10,000 jobs in June, StatsCan reports

The youth unemployment rate increased to the highest level in June in almost two decades. CTV’s Camille Wilson speaks with students looking for a summer job.

Ottawa’s economy lost 10,000 jobs in June, as the city’s unemployed rate increased heading into summer.

Statistics Canada says Ottawa’s unemployment rate increased to 6.2 per cent in June from 5.6 per cent in May.

The number of people employed in Ottawa dropped from 707,800 people in May to 697,600 in June.

Ottawa’s economy lost 4,000 jobs in May, as the unemployment rate increased to 5.6 per cent from 5.4 per cent in April.

In Gatineau, Que., the unemployment rate increased to 6.5 per cent in June from 6.4 per cent in May. The unemployment rate remained at 7.5 per cent in Kingston last month.

Statistics Canada reported Friday that Canada’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.9 per cent in June, as the economy added approximately 83,000 jobs. The vast majority of new jobs were part-time positions.

Unemployment rate for students

The unemployment rate for students looking to return to school in the fall was 17.4 per cent across Canada in June, up from 15.8 per cent last year. In Ontario, the student unemployment rate was 18.9 per cent.

Statistics Canada looked at the unemployment rate for returning students aged 15 to 24 years old who were attending school full time in March and intend to return to school full time in the fall.

The report shows the unemployment rate for students aged 17 to 19 was 19 per cent, while the rate for students aged 20 to 24 was 12.3 per cent.

Awa Diomande says she’s been applying to many different types of jobs, hoping to get something.

“I’ve been talking to our friend about this, and it’s really hard. We’ve been looking around. Nothing is really coming,” says Diomande.

Dave Mangano, owner of The Grand Pizzeria, hires students for the summer season.

“There’s a lot of applications coming in still, even though we’re halfway through the summer. A lot of applications come in from both students and foreign workers—probably about 20 a week,” says Mangano.

Danica Da Silva says she started applying for work in January and has not been successful.

“I applied to probably 15 or 20, heard back from three, got back two interviews, but I didn’t get any unfortunately,” says Da Silva.

Ben Sullivan says he was successful in getting a job after nine months of applying and believes networking is what helped him.

“I might have sent out like 300 to 400 job applications. It’s a lot. Honestly, the online applications is not the way. Do networking, know people. That seems to be my experience,” says Sullivan. “I know so many folks, my siblings and some of my smartest friends, have really found it very hard right now. It’s rough out there.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Camille Wilson